Press release

St. Petersburg City Tourist Information Bureau (CTIB) was founded in the year 2000.
The main aims of City Tourist Information Bureau are promotion of St. Petersburg on the Russian and International travel markets and providing of complex information service for city visitors and inhabitants.

City Tourist Information Bureau is a general information system, which accommodates a database about cultural life of St. Petersburg, exhibitions, festivals and theatre premiers, about sport and all other kinds of remarkable events. The database contains wide range of information about tourist objects, attractions, hotels, sanatoriums and resorts, tourist agencies and entertainment sphere. This is the most wide information data of St. Petersburg, which is constantly enlarged, and reflects the development of city tourist market.

City visitors and inhabitants are welcome to get all the necessary information in City Tourist Information Bureau offices at Dvortsovaya (Palace) square, at 14, Sadovaya street, at Rastrelli square(close to Smolny cathedral) , at St. Isaac`s square, close to Peter-and-Paul fortress, close to Moskovsky railway station, at the passenger port "Marine Façade" and in the airport "Pulkovo". The employees of City Tourist Information Bureau will be glad to provide all the guests with information about tourist, hotel, museum and excursion services of the best quality, available in the city. Tourists are also offered free newspapers, brochures, maps and different city guides.

City Tourist Information Bureau also manages the official city tourist portal of St. Petersburg. It is a multifunctional internet portal for Russian and foreign tourists who are looking forward to visiting the city, that will also be informative for professionals of tourist business and city inhabitants. City Tourist Information Bureau is working on enlarging of this portal popularity by offering a convenient structure with many useful sections and topics.

City Tourist Information Bureau makes regular tourist market researches, reveals all current tourist needs and the ways to respond the demand. All the research results become an effective basis for new information and promotion materials for potential business partners and public. City Tourist Information Bureau is an active participant of international tourist exhibitions, conferences, and business forums in Russia and abroad.

Another important direction of City Tourist Information Bureau work is guides accreditation that is held since June 2000, according to the order of governor of St. Petersburg. The goal of this accreditation work is to bring up the guide work quality and to protect the guides from unfair competition. It is also important that constant accreditation helps to control the service quality and supplies all city guests with the reliable information on history, culture and contemporary life of St. Petersburg. This program includes different courses of raising skills, seminars and lectures. Due to these activities of City Tourist Information Bureau Petersburg becomes more welcoming, comfortable and secure city for foreign guests. More than 3500 professional guides and interpreters have already passed this accreditation.

City Tourist Information Bureau planes include the information centers net development. They will be opened in the railway stations, hotels and close to mane points of tourist attraction. These Information Centers designed in one remarkable style, will be easy to find in the city. Modern architecture is easily combined with classical historical ensembles, such as Palace square, where one of the centers is situated.

Various range of City Tourist Information Bureau activities is conductive to expansion of St. Petersburg possibilities in tourist service. It is one of the most important steps towards predicted growth of incoming tourist flows and further improvement of tourist infrastructure.